SHARI, Hokkaido: Japan Coast Guard investigators for a second straight day Tuesday searched locations linked to the operator of the Kazu I after the tour boat sank off the northern prefecture of Hokkaido late last month.

Investigators from the 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters searched the Kazu III tour boat owned by Shiretoko Yuransen and a vehicle used by the company based in the Hokkaido town of Shari, according to coast guard sources.

On Monday, coast guard investigators searched the office of Shiretoko Yuransen and the home of its 58-year-old head, Seiichi Katsurada.

The coast guard suspects Katsurada and the 54-year-old captain of the Kazu I, Noriyuki Toyoda, who has been missing since the April 23 accident, of committing professional negligence resulting in death.

The Kazu I sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula. Fourteen of the 26 passengers and crew members aboard have been found and confirmed dead.

Rescuers from the coast guard, the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Hokkaido police Tuesday continued searches for the remaining 12 people using underwater cameras.

A man in his 30s who lost his father, mother and younger brother in the accident pointed to a lack of safety precautions at Shiretoko Yuransen.

Katsurada “failed to fulfill his obligations,” the man, a resident of the western prefecture of Hyogo, said, expressing hopes that the coast guard’s investigation will find the cause of the accident.

JIJI Press